page_title: Toni Rüttimann
section_title: Bridges in Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia
hierarchical_section_title: Toni Rüttimann / Biography / Bridges in Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Ponte sul Canale Nazionale fra Bac Lieu e Camau, Vietnam
context_page_description: Toni Rüttimann, is a Swiss bridge builder who works in Southeast Asia and in Latin America, where he is known as Toni el Suizo.
  Toni Rüttimann works independently alongside communities in need, using recycled materials and charging no fees.
  Companies contribute by donating their used material and local governments concede permits and help with transportation in recognition of the fact that the main effort is made by the population. No one asks for anything in return and the bridge belongs to the population who built it.
  The bridges are for use of pedestrians, pack animals, motorcycles, two-wheel-tractors – but not for cars.
  In every country where Toni works, he builds up a small team of national welders and looks for one “bridge-building partner”, to whom he teaches his craft, and who in turn is able to perform maintenance duties on the bridges built.
  Toni has no home residence: he carries everything he needs in two bags. One for his personal belongings, the other for his laptop computer and a few tools for his trade.
  In collaboration with local communities, he has built 760 bridges which serve two million people.
context_section_description: After two years of rehabilitation Toni manages to walk again, and goes to Vietnam.
  In the province of Ben Tre, with the help of Mai Son, retired Deputy Chairman of the Province and former Vietcong combatant, he creates a third team. From 2004 to 2008 he builds 58 bridges in the Vietnam Mekong Delta provinces of Ben Tre, Bac Lieu, Tra Vinh and Dong Thap.
  Toni continues into neighbouring Laos, where he had previously built three bridges with his Cambodian team in 2006. With Laotian truck driver Lanh and three welders he builds 42 bridges between 2008 and 2010.
  Mid-2008 he goes to Myanmar, which at the time was still under embargo by the United States of America and the European Union. In Yangon he presents a letter and pictures of bridges built to a member of the government, and just four days later receives authorization from the capital, Nay Pyi Taw, allowing him to build bridges also in Myanmar.
  From that moment on, together with his Myanmar companion Aiklian, former artisanal gemstone digger, he builds bridges throughout the entire national territory, while five welders prepare the bridge components in a government shipyard in Yangon.
  In late 2010 Toni el Suizo begins work in Indonesia. Tenaris donates the pipes from its Indonesian subsidiary, while the national government concedes the permits and offers a welding workshop outside of Jakarta. The Indonesian Navy and Army contribute most maritime transportation across this far-flung republic. Land transportation, however, is normally paid for by the community where the bridge is built.
  The Indonesian team consists of Suntana, former construction factory operator in Dubai, and four welders. From 2011 to March 2014, the team built 30 bridges on Java and 6 on Sulawesi.
caption: Bridge across national channel between Bac Lieu and Camau, Vietnam
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